“Dear customers, we regret to inform you that Shopee.es will stop operating from 11:59 p.m. on June 17 from 2022″. Thus, in large white letters on an orange background, and under an even larger “closing notice” sign, Shopee announced on his website his withdrawn from the Spanish market just eight months after its arrival in this.
The Singaporean marketplace guaranteed in its statement that the orders that were registered until that date would be processed with total normality. In addition, after-sales services and support continued to be available until all customers received their purchases. Shopee also took the opportunity to thank the support and trust placed in the brand and apologize for any inconvenience that this change could cause for its consumers, sending them to their customer service email so that they could resolve any questions.
Shopee Spain: an entry as sudden as its departure
Shopee burst into Spain in a surprising way in October 2021, after only three days of promotion on Instagram. The Singaporean brand spared no expense to boost its presentation to Spanish society, announcing major opening promotions. Free shipping for any productwhatever its price, 3 euro discount coupons for new customers who made a purchase of more than 5 euros and flash offers at 1 euro were the revolutionary formulas chosen.
This was an important step in its expansion throughout Europe, of which the openings in and were also a part. However, Shopee’s plans for the old continent were cut short, being Poland the only bastion that resists.
Background and causes of the departure of Shopee from Spain
In order to understand Shopee’s situation and decision, it is necessary to go back in time. The first blow was not received directly by the Singaporean marketplace, but Bethe technological group to which it belongs.
India banned Sea’s flagship game
In February this year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India banned more than 50 mobile games and apps, including Sea-owned Garena’s Free Fire. This decision was not a novelty, since India has been since 2020 due to border tensions between the two countries.
The reasons that India indicated to explain these decisions were linked to the national security and defense of the countrylinking the applications to suspicious user data collection.
This decision caught Sea off guard, as he was making plans to partner with tournaments and further promote his game in the country. The success of Garena’s Free Fire was not rare in India, according to data from analytics firm App Annie, this had more than 40 million active users per month. be had losses of almost 16 million dollars because of this ban.
Shopee left France
Less than a month after the problems in India, Sea once again faced a difficult situation with the exit of its marketplace Shopee from the French market. On that occasion, Shopee used the same formula that it later used in Spain, it presented a statement on its French website informing that it would comply with the orders made up to the moment of closure, which would end up taking place on March 6.
Likewise, the company also stated by email that after a preliminary pilot they had made the decision to cease the Shopee service in France, but that this would not affect its other markets. Also showing your inclination to continue exploring new markets despite the bump.
The problems in India returned and Shopee stopped operating in the country
At the end of March, Sea broke ties with India, announcing the cessation of Shopee’s activity in the country just a few months after the marketplace had started looking for local sellers. As in France, Shopee posted a notice on its website noting its close March 29Until then I will continue to accept orders. The company itself hastened to unlink this decision with the ban on Garena’s Free Fire and relate it to the uncertainties that the global market entailed.
The truth is that, since the official launch of Shopee in India, in October 2021, the country’s retailers were unhappy and rejected the presence of the marketplace. The Confederation of Indian Merchants He even contacted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to complain about the arrival of Shopee in what they considered an “unfair trade” that would end up damaging the local commercial ecosystem.
After these latest moves, Shopee will have to focus on its other markets and rethink its strategy in Europe, where it already only has a presence in one country.
Shopee closes in Argentina and lowers its bet in Mexico, Colombia and Chile
Just two months after its closure announcement in Spain, Shopee adopted a similar strategy to announce that, As of September 8, it would close national sales in Mexico, Colombia and Chile. Likewise, he again guaranteed that orders made previously would be respected. This was done through .
CEO of Shopee, has linked the exit from these markets with the «current high macroeconomic uncertainty« and with the aim of «concentrate resources on core operations». The company will continue to work with a cross-border model, although several employees are expected to be laid off. In fact, in recent months, the company has already registered several dismissals of workers after lose $1 billion in the April-June quarter. Since then his stock has plummeted.
The marketplace also made a more drastic decision regarding Argentina: it would definitively close its operations in the country. This also became effective on September 8 itself and, returning to precedents, the orders placed up to this date were completed.
These were the first steps of Shopee in Latin America
the year ran 2019 when Shopee began its expansion throughout Latin America, being its first stop. Just two years after its arrival, it became one of the most downloaded apps in the country. After this he ventured into Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
The way in which Shopee gained so much popularity and users in Brazil was thanks to a particular strategy of mini-games included in the app, which offered coupons to winning buyers. Something more than appropriate considering that Sea Group, owner of Shopee, also owns Garena, the creator of the popular Free Fire game.
shopee’s history
After his departure from France, Spain and his next departure from Argentina, the countries in which Shopee currently operates are reduced to 12: Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Poland. And the main items that are bought in the marketplace are technology products such as headphones, watches, smartwatchesoffice supplies, fashion, footwear, accessories, and practically any product available on the market.
Shopee belongs to the Sea technology group, and was founded in 2015 in Singapore. In 2019 its eCommerce was already positioned in the list of the in terms of . Before undertaking its great Asian and Latin American expansion, in 2018 the company showed a GMV or gross sales value of more than 8,500 million euros, an indicator that refers to the value of all the products sold on the platform. A value achieved thanks to more than 600 million transactions made on its platform.
its revenue grew 161% year-on-year globally in the second quarter of 2021 to reach 1,015 million euros. The platform processed 1.4 billion gross orders in the second quarter, 127% more than the previous year, while its GMV reached 15,000 million dollars, 88% more than the previous year.
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